The Marvel Universe Evolves Online

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What to expect from Marvel's first MMO.

By Hilary Goldstein

Yesterday, Microsoft announced that Cryptic Studios, the developers behind the PC MMO City of Heroes, would be taking the Marvel Universe Online. Fittingly, details on the MMO remain cryptic. A release date, the visual style and the playing parameters remain unrevealed. However, we have pieced together enough tidbits to consider the potential for Marvel Universe Online.

Marvel and Microsoft Sittin' in a Tree... Marvel has licensed its properties to numerous game companies over the past two decades. However, the deal with Microsoft and Cryptic is unique. For the first time, a developer has access to every single character and storyline throughout the history of Marvel Comics, from 1940 onward. That means more that 5000 heroes, villains and civilians can populate New York City.

Though this MMO takes place in modern day, it comes with a 60-year history. The Brooklyn Bridge is where Gwen Stacy died. Mole Man lives underground, waiting for the day to rise up and take over the surface world. The X-Men's Gambit has become a Horseman of Apocalypse. While fantasy MMOs and even City of Heroes have to invent back story, Marvel Universe Online has a pre-set history, giving Cryptic an incredible resource for creating new stories.

The team-up goes deeper than this. Representatives from Cryptic and Microsoft have started attending Marvel's yearly creative getaway, in which future Marvel storylines are discussed. When MUO launches, its world will reflect the current events in the Marvel Universe. For those currently following Marvel Comics, that means the fallout from Civil War (which pits the heroes of the Marvel U against one another over the Superhero Registration Act), will be part of the online world. So will the upcoming World War Hulk and other major storylines.

The plan is to keep the integration active over the course of five to ten years. However, the stories in MUO won't mimic those in the comics. Cryptic, with influence from Marvel, is creating new stories to be experienced only online. What happens in the comics will affect the game world, but it won't rule that world. It is possible that in the future, the game world might cross over into the comic-book universe creating a truly symbiotic relationship between the two mediums.

Who Will You Be? Cryptic is not ready to discuss character creation. With access to more than 5000 characters, it is possible that each server could allow people to play as an individual Marvel character, shaping the online world as they see fit. The problem with this is that there can only be one Wolverine, one Spider-Man per server. Someone will be stuck playing Jubilee. It's inevitable.

The other possibility is that you can create your own hero, who plays in a world featuring AI or employee-controlled Marvel characters. This would allow for a larger pool of players, who get to interact with the famed Marvel U, without feeling shafted by the characters they have to choose from. But even this offers several problems. First, who buys a Marvel game to play as other characters? If you shell out the (unannounced) monthly fee, you're going to want to play as Daredevil or Human Torch or Nightcrawler. More importantly, if you can create your own skins and characters, it will be about 10 minutes into Marvel Universe Online's release before the first version of Superman is flying about. There's no way Marvel wants DC characters invading their game world.

There is no easy answer for this dilemma. This is Cryptic's most important game decision. It is more likely that there will be a mix of player creation and Marvel roleplaying with severe limitations or oversight on character skins and names. This is a risky tradeoff, but one that will satisfy the largest number of people.

Incentive There is one very tantalizing incentive that could encourage gamers to create their own characters and play alongside AI Marvel heroes. Since there is the potential for crossover between the game and the comics, Marvel could offer players the opportunity to see their character appear in a comic book. Imagine if Marvel "scouts" were on the lookout to grab a few lucky characters to make the transition to the printed page. How many Marvelites would be playing day and night in the hopes of being discovered?

More likely, is the idea of guest gamers. There are a number of Marvel creators who play videogames. Microsoft loves their monthly "celebrity gamer" promotions. What if Marvelites could play alongside characters controlled by famed writers such as Brian Michael Bendis? It would create a buzz around the game. Especially if Bendis gets his hands on the quip-happy Spider-Man.

Massively Marketplace

One of the reasons Marvel chose to go first-party with its MMO is the potential to exploit the Xbox Live Marketplace. Consumables will be arriving in the Marketplace shortly and downloadable skins are already a reality on Live. Along with the assortment of creation goodies available out of the box, Marvel and Microsoft could sell extra skin options, powers and game modules for play in MUO.

Cryptic wants to keep the Marvel Online world vital for at least five years. There's no better way to do that than by offering regular content updates through the Marketplace. This could include new character skins based on recent Marvel events (a la Spider-Man's "Iron Spider" costume) or newly created interiors from recently introduced Marvel locales.

Big Events Where Marvel Universe Online has the strongest potential for greatness is in offering massive community events. Marvel Comics has made its reputation on epic events, such as House of M, Civil War and Secret Wars. Our hope is that every few months, a planned online event occurs that draws in the heroes and villains of New York for a battle of historic proportions. We know that events from the comics will affect the game world, but it's important that the online universe has it's own significant moments.

It's unclear how the major events in the Marvel Universe will show up in the game. When a six-month long crossover in the comics occurs, will the events literally play out online or will there one day be a Daily Bugle update explaining the changes to continuity? If you do get to play as Marvel characters, how will these events affect your online persona? These and many other questions are likely to remain unanswered for several more months (if not longer). The choices Cryptic makes in regards to such matters could mean the difference between success and failure for Marvel Universe Online.

An MMO based in the Marvel Universe has great potential. It's still uncertain how much of that potential can be met. But we hold out hope. And as long as we one day see Galactus attempting to eat New York City (and some of its annoying online inhabitants), we'll be happy.